50 Percent of Russians Expect Positive Changes when War Ends, 30 Percent Expect No Change, and 20 Percent Think Things will Get Still Worse, Survey in Trans-Baikal Finds

Paul Goble

    Staunton, May 5 – A social psychologist surveyed Russians in a large city in the Transbaikal about their expectations of what will happen with the war in Ukraine ends, talk about killing stops, and veterans return. About half said they expect the situation to improve, but 30 percent said there’ll be no change and 20 percent believe things will get worse.

    The survey was conducted informally with open-ended questions so the sample is not necessarily representative, but so sensitive are such questions that the psychologist now has reported them only anonymously, although he has offered extensive quotes from many he spoke with (baikal-stories.media/2025/05/06/vnutrennej-voinstvennosti-u-lyudej-tochno-net/).

    One of the issues dividing Russians is what role returning veterans wi will play. Some told the psychologist that they expect the veterans to play a positive role and end corruption given that their experience of fighting at the front has left them fearless. But others expressed an alternative view.

    The latter said that they are afraid about what veterans may do and hope that the authorities will devote themselves to the re-integration of those who have served into society. Both groups suggested that they would like to see the appearance of new values in society, values “based on patriotism and close to those that existed in Soviet times.”

    What none of the people with whom the social psychologist spoke favored was the continuation of the war in Ukraine or the launch of new military campaigns elsewhere, an indication, the researcher said that Russians today are not animated by some “internal militance” that must find an outlet in new wars.